Gilchrist F-Style Mandolin

Peghead Nation mandolin instructor Sharon Gilchrist demonstrates her primary instrument

Built by Australia’s Stephen Gilchrist, this 1991 F-style mandolin has been Peghead Nation Beginning Mandolin instructor Sharon Gilchrist’s (no relation) primary instrument since 1994. The instrument was built as a copy of the only red-sunburst Lloyd Loar–signed Gibson F-5 ever made. The instrument originally had a fingerboard with a tree-of-life inlay, but Gilchrist had it replaced with a fingerboard with simple dots to avoid damage to the original after several refret operations. Gilchrist has had the neck shape modified from its original design, leaving it unfinished, as she prefers to feel the raw wood. The instrument has a carved spruce top and highly figured maple back and sides. Gilchrist instruments are represented in the US by Nashville’s Carter Vintage Guitars (cartervintage.com).

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